


whatever it takes

by arsonistinsnow



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi Keiji Is So Done, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Angst, Attempt at Humor, F/F, Fluff, Haikyuu!! AU Week, How Do I Tag, Hunger Games, M/M, Mentioned Hinata Natsu, Please Send Help, akaashi is sorta very cool, and suna and kita because i can do whatever i want, bokuto is sempai, happy ending because i cant read or write too sad stuff, hes twelve, i dont know how tagging works, i made a fluff fic out of blood and gore, ik great mind, kagehina are hopeless, kagehina fight a lot, kagehinas telepathic communication, kenhina are bffs, kiyoko is a goddess, miya twins show up too, no really, noya is a baby, oikawa shows up too, people crying, people will suffer but not really, protect bokutou koutarou, protect my children, saeko tanaka - Freeform, sawamura doesnt want to be a dad anymore, send help, so i wrote random bullshit, sugawara wants tsuki to stop fucking cursing, tenma udai, theres terushima too hehe, tsukishima is salty, tsukki wants them to just fucking get a room, watch haikyuu for clear skin, yamaguchi thinks salt is just angry sugar, yams and yachi are presidents of the anxiety club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24314140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arsonistinsnow/pseuds/arsonistinsnow
Summary: In which hinata volunteers for his sister, bickers constantly with kageyama, and maybe ends up surviving the games.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. The kid i used to know

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. I hope this doesn't completely suck.Its my first time writing an au,and publishing something on ao3. I don't think i have this whole ao3 gig figured out completely yet either. There might be grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, which i maybe MIGHT fix someday (hopefully).
> 
> Anyway,i hope this works out. Comments and opinions are always appreciated.

Hinata Shouyo loves his sister. It's because he loves her that he lets her steal his candies. It because he loves her that he squats down when she insists on a piggy back ride on the way back from school,complaining her feet are sore. It's because he loves her that he lets her braid his hair,or doodle on his textbooks,or shove her potatoes on his plate when moms not looking because she hates them(he hates them too).

Its because he loves her, that he stands in front of her as her name is called, shielding her tiny body from the cameras, and speaks;calm and confident, looking straight at the announcer, "I volunteer."

There's a strangled sob behind him, and he turns to see his mother on the ground, tears streaming down her face, the arm she has extended towards him shaking violently.He swallows,feeling a chill run through him as reality settles in ; harsh and cold. He was going to die. His mother was crying. He was going to die,and he was afraid.

But then his gaze falls on his sister,standing next to him,eyes wide and glassy,face pale,hands clutched to the little crow keychain hinata had given her for her birthday. One look is all it takes,and he's not afraid anymore.He's bending down,smile wide and bright,picking her up in his arms and walking towards his mother. "Don't forget to feed the crow babies." He says. "And no secret candy after dinner."

Her small arms wrap around his neck,and suddenly she's crying, hiccupping through her sobs, tears hot and wet against his neck.

"Don't go." She cries,desperately clutching his tear-soaked hoodie as their mother pulls her away.

He smiles,ruffling her messy orange hair,much like his own, "Don't worry." He hears himself say. "I'll be back before those baby crows start flying.Can't miss that."

And then the guards are telling him to hurry up, and he's looking at his mother, racking his brain for something to say. But unlike Natsu, he knows there is no fake promises he can offer her. She knows he wont come back. She knows she will be seeing him die live on television. She knows those baby crows wont survive the winter.They are too young,featherless and weak.Their mother is dead, buried under Natsu's favourite sakura tree in their backyard.

He leans down and presses a kiss to his mother's forehead, and wipes the tears on her cheeks with his thumb. And then he's off, getting escorted to the stage,shaking hands with the announcer, a tall guy with bleached hair, pulled back with a hairband.

He looks out into the crowd as the announcer draws another slip, tries to guess who will be dying with him. He hopes its not Izumi or Kouji.Because he wants them to look after his sister. Because someone has to look out for natsu when he's gone. 

The announcer calls out a name, "Kageyama Tobio." And hinata frowns. This was something he wouldn't wish even on his worst enemies, he thinks, as he watches the familiar black haired boy walk up to the stage, face blank, betraying no emotion. Their eyes meet, and for one moment, hinata isn't standing on the doorway to slaughter house. For one moment,they are back to being middle schoolers, glaring daggers at each others faces from across the street when hinata had accidently hit the back of his head with a ball he was casually bouncing. Kageyama had thrown the ball down the stream and had spat something about stupid short brats with no talent.

"Well.We have our tributes." The announcer says,sounding resigned. "See you all next year.Happy hunger games!"

The crowd is quiet, like every year.The only sound is the faint sobbing of hinata's mother and what he assumes is kageyama's elder sister,who is now standing with is mother and natsu in the front crowd.Hinata notices how natsu has her fingers clutched around kageyama's sisters hands,and he smiles to himself,thinking how natsu might have found a new friend.

They are ushered down the stage and into a car that would take them directly to the station.

He watches as raindrops start falling the moment the car starts. Like the sky decided it would cry for him. Because he had to be strong, the sky would shoulder some of his sadness. He watches the raindrops slide down the glass windows and desperately pushes back his tears. The sky would cry for him.

{•°•}

They don't talk during the car ride, and not even when they board the train. They walk side by side,nod robotically to everything they are being told. The announcer from before,Keishin Ukai, and another man, smaller, Ittetsu Takeda, are to be their mentors. They recieve shoulder pats,and some words of consolation that hinata doesn't hear over the loud ringing in his ears. Everything feels cold and bland. 

They are shown to their respective room, which are side by side. Their eyes meet again at their doorsteps,and then they are unlocking their doors and entering their rooms,shutting their doors behind them.

Hinata runs to the bathroom,finally free of the cameras,and pukes out the contents of his stomach in the toilet. His throat feels raw and eyes sting as tears stream down his face. He pulls himself up and drags himself to the shower, turning it on as he slips down on the floor, arms around his knees, letting the ice cold water soak his clothes, a nice feeling in contrast to the hot tears that refuse to stop.

I'm scared,he thinks again. I'm going to die.

There hadn't been a victor from karasuno for more than a decade. And the fact that the previous tributes had all been much older, much taller, much more powerful than he was and had still barely managed to get through the first day in the arena, made him jittery. He looked at his thin fingers, water streaming down his palms, and wondered how far he would get. Wondered if it was okay feeling curious about what lay ahead. 

He wondered if he was allowed to hope, just a bit, here in the privacy of this cold unfamiliar bathroom,so far away from home.

{•°•}

The room is too big and smells like expensive detergent. He hates it.

He tosses and turns on the disturbingly huge bed, the mattress bouncing under him, until he finally gives up and stands up, throwing his quilt over his shoulders and exits the room.He wanders down the hall towards the room where Ukai and Takeda sensei had first greeted them. There was a large window, and hinata wants a distraction.

When he enters the room,though, what he doesn't expect is the black haired boy, sitting near the window, fingers fiddling with the glass of water in his hands. He looks up at hinata, momentarily surprised, and then he shrugs lightly and turns back to stare out of the window. HInata takes that as a permission to enter (not that he would need this assholes permission for anything) , and sits beside Kageyama.

They watch as the trees and the buildings zoom by. Watch how they get further and further away from home. 

Hinata glances around the room, eyes narrowed, searching for the familiar red light of the camera, and comes up blank. He looks at kageyama , eyebrows raised in question. Kageyama shrugs again, lips drawn into a small frown as his own eyes survey the room, and return back to staring blankly out the window.

"We will miss the volleyball tournament this year." Hinata isn't quite sure why he says that, and he immediately regrets opening his mouth because his voice is scratchy and dry and it hurts his throat,this being the first time he has spoken since the reaping. And mostly because of how kageyama's head snaps in his direction, staring at his face with an expression hinata is sure will haunt him for the few remaining days he has left.

Hinata is expecting to get strangled,or maybe thrown out of the window, but what he doesn't expect are the words he receives,

"I wont." Kageyama is saying, hands clutching the glass of water in his lap tighter,causing a tiny crack to appear in the middle, faintly visible from the light that reflects off it,and hinata is left to thank the deities that he's not that glass, "I'm gonna win this bullshit and go back home. And i will compete in the volleyball tournament."

And those words make his breath hitch,a new kind of feeling bubbling in the pits of his stomach. And then Hinata bursts out laughing, or maybe he's crying because there are tears involved too , and he's smacking kageyama's back and he feels alive.

Kageyama looks bewildered by his outburst, but his scary scowl returns almost immediately as he throws hinata's arm off his back and sends him tumbling down on the groud. "What are you laughing at, dumbass?" There's poison in his voice, and he sounds offended, which makes hinata sober up. 

He stares at kageyama, who stands over him,tall and looming, and smiles a bit, "I forgot." Hinata explains. "I forgot how much i practiced for the tournament." 

And then he's pushing himself off the ground and standing up, chest to chest (or more accurately neck to chest,curse that tall bastard,he thinks), with kageyama. He tilts his head up, eyes flashing with new found determination, and stares straight into kageyama's narrowed eyes. "Kageyama." He says,and he knows he means it,feels it coursing through his veins, "I won't back down. I will beat you at the tournament."

And then they launch into a long argument,the games forgotten in favour of the inter school volleyball tournament karasuno held every year. And the night suddenly isn't cold anymore, and his ears aren't ringing, and he feels the determination and hope seep into him as kageyama yells profanities at him and he yells back,their voices filling the train compartment and carrying them through the night, until dawn breaks and sunlight shines over the two boys curled up on the floor, hair and clothes disheveled from being pulled by the other, snoring and shivering on the ground, until takeda sensei finds them in the morning, smiles sadly and brings them pillows.


	2. lets make it back home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp.a fast update.im gonna try to finish this asap because i run out of motivation VERY fast.Anyway,hope this doesn't suck.

"How much experience do you have in combat." Ukai asks over breakfast the next morning.

They are sitting in a train compartment with no windows, an adequately large dining table, and an odd looking clock. Hinata is seated besides kageyama, opposite to ukai and takeda, picking at the mashed potatoes on his plate with his spoon.

The question makes them both still, and fidget in their chairs.

Hinata thinks about the crow nest on the windowsill of natsu's room back home. "I shot a crow once." He says absently, eyes unfocused, fighting back a wave of nausea.

This seems to break kageyama out of his daze, and he throws hinata a curious glance.

"With what." Takeda asks gently.

"Dart gun." He replies, and shoves a spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth, forcefully chewing and swallowing, fighting back an impulse to gag. He hated potatoes.

He hated potatoes and his newfound realization that he wasn't going to a friendly volleyball match, where the worse you could do was hit someone's head with a ball. He would have to kill people. Real people. People with families. People with tiny sisters like his own. People with newly-hatched baby birds chirping on their windowsills. 

Only one team would come back. Only one team of people with high combat skills, and probably years and years of training. People most likely from Shiratorizawa.

Ukai clears his throat, "We can work with that." He says, mostly to himself. He turns his head in kageyama's direction. "What about you?" 

Kageyama looks green as he glares at the mashed potatoes on his plate. Hinata, for the first time in his life, feels sorry for potatoes. Kageyama's glare was terrifying. "I took archery in middle school." He says and there's something off about his tone. He sounds stiff, voice strained with an emotion hinata doesn't quite recognize.

"Any good?" Ukai inquires.

Kageyama just shrugs slightly, and goes back to eating.

Minutes pass in silence,except for the occasional clink of the spoons against the plates, until Ukai speaks again.

"You both play volleyball." He says,and it's not a question. The aura around the table lightens almost comically fast as hinata and kageyama snap their heads to look at Ukai, eyes bright.

"Yeah." Hinata says, enthusiastically. This might have been the first time he has expressed eagerness in any conversation they've had, which is reflected by the way both Ukai and Takeda look a bit startled, and glance at each other before letting out amused chuckles. 

"I see we have a lot of volleyball enthusiasts this year." Ukai is saying, smile broad and genuine. "They have a gymnasium in the capitol where we will be staying. I'd love to watch your plays."

And suddenly, Hinata is on cloud nine, gripping the edge of the table and standing up, bouncing on his feet, making the table shake and the cutlery clink, excited. "Really?!"

And then kageyama is glaring at him,pulling him back to his chair by roughly tugging his jacket."Calm down,dumbass." He's saying. "This isn't a field trip."

And hinata absolutely hates him for his unasked reality check. Hinata hates him as he feels his enthusiasm fade,replaced again by the bitter reality of where they were going, what they had to do, what would be done to them. Hinata hates Kageyama because he's right.He hates him and his stupid common sense.

He sits back down stiffly, feeling the cheerful atmosphere fade. "How long do we have before the games?" He asks.

Its Takeda who answers. "Two weeks." He says. "You will be training in a skill of your choice for two weeks. There will be a private session held by the gamemakers at the end, to gauge your individual abilities and to see what you will require in the arena."

"How long before we reach the capitol?" Kageyama asks.

Takeda glances at the odd wall clock,"We'll be there by noon."

Kageyama nods, and the silence returns. They finish breakfast in silence, and then both of them are getting up, bowing to the older men and thanking them for the food.

As kageyama opens the door of the compartment to exit,he suddenly pauses, sending hinata bumping face-first into kageyama's back, which earns him another glare from the taller boy as he rubs his nose.

"What the hell, bakageyama. Walk properly-" Hinata starts but kageyama isn't looking at him anymore.

"What did you mean earlier." Kageyama asks,speaking over him, addressing the two older men still sitting at the table,Ukai rolling a cigarette between his fingers and takeda staring absently at the odd wall clock. 

Ukai tilts his head questioningly, eyebrows raised. 

"You said something about there being a lot of volleyball players this year." Kageyama elaborates.

This catches hinata's interest and he stares curiously between kageyama's stoic, scary face and Ukai, who has a smile creeping on his face which sends shivers down hinata's spine. Takeda is still staring at the clock, but there's a smile on his face too.

Hinata feels himself frown, like he's being left out of some universal secret. 

"There are a lot of amazing volleyball players among this years tribute." He hears Ukai say. "I think Bokuto Koutarou was chosen from Fukurodani this year." And hinata feels the wind being knocked out of him. 

"Bokuto-" Hinata mumbles numbly, thinking about the spiky haired boy he saw on telly. Thinking about the last three years where he religiously went out to the public square, dragging kouji and izumi with him, to watch the the nationals live. Thinking about how he had been forced to treat his friends to dinner after having lost the bet for two years straight.

Thinking about how last year, finally, fukurodani had won, and hinata had finally broken his bet losing streak, had been treated to hotpot by his friends, had cheered so loud that he had felt his voice crack, and how kouji had smacked his head and told him he shouldn't be that happy about a rival team winning.

The possibility of meeting his volleyball idol, one of the top five wing spikers in the whole country,the captain of his favourite team, sends anticipation coursing through him. He turns his face up to kageyama to voice out his excitement but his words die down in his throat.Because kageyama isn't smiling. Kageyama doesn't look the least bit tempted by the prospect. 

Because kageyama, for the first time since the last 24 hours they have spent together, looks nervous. His eyebrows are scrunched lightly and he looks like he's making an effort to keep on that very unconvincing frown etched on his already scary enough face.

"What's wron-" Hinata begins, head tilted to the side, eyes inspecting the taller boy who is still staring at their mentors.

"Shut up, dumbass." Kageyama mumbles, eyes finally meeting hinatas, and glancing away just as quick. And then he's throwing the door open and walking out, leaving hinata staring after him, confused.

{•°•}

They had arrived around noon, true to takeda's word. A car was already waiting for them at the station, and the ride towards their temporary-residence was filled with chatter.Hinata pointing out buildings from the window in curiousity, takeda and ukai telling him about what they were.

Kageyama didn't speak much, but he looked just as curious, peering through his own window,taking in the foreign territory, so different from home.

Karasuno was peaceful.Or maybe that was a sentiment everyone felt for their home.It was a small district, filled with rice fields and tiny shops.The capitol was huge, tall buildings looming over them, tall enough to require the effort of raising your head upwards.

There were no rice fields.And it didn't feel peaceful, Hinata thought. But Hinata had always been curious. And this felt like a treasure quest. And if he was going to die, he would much rather go out having seen some real cool stuff.

They got off in the parking lot, and walk side by side towards their destination until hinata stops midway to admire a tower that looked suspiciously like the picture izumi had shown him in a magazine a few years back.One of the capitols main attractions.The tallest tower in the country.

"Capitol Tower!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in excitement. 

"That's a signal tower, shrimpy." A voice cackles from behind him, making him jump.

He turns around to face the owner of the voice, a tall boy with hair styled in a way that reminds hinata of a rooster, clutching his stomach as he laughs.

Hinata frowns at the nickname, turning his attention back to the tower, and seeing that yes, it does sort of look like a normal signal tower, just a lot bigger than the ones back in karasuno. 

The rooster head guy doesn't stop laughing, and hinata is about to give him a piece of his mind when suddenly there's a knee being shoved in the rooster head guys stomach, effectively putting an end to the laughing fit.

"Shut up,Kuro." Says the new commer, owner of the aforementioned knee. He glances briefly at hinata and the awkwardly looks away, his bleached hair curtaining half his face. "Sorry about him." He mutters quitely.

Hinata is about to thank him when he feels something smack his head, sending him tumbling forward. He looks at the tiny milk box that had hit him, now lying innocently on the ground, and shifts his glare to its raven-haired owner, standing a few feet away,hands stuffed in his trouser pockets, looking way too smug for hinata's liking.

"Stop running around like a kid on a fucking field trip and keep up, dumbass hinata." Kageyama says. 

Hinata stomps towards him, ready to shove a fist in his face, that bastard, when he hears someone clearing their throat. Takeda sensei smiles and hinata drops his hands back to his sides and rubs the back of his head nervously. "I'm coming okay." He mumbles, hating the satisfied smirk on kageyama's face.

And they walk towards the gigantic building, where they are apparently going to be staying till the games start. He notices the rooster head and the nice blonde guy entering the building as hinata and kageyama are being ushered into the elevator.

Hinata stares at his reflection mirrored in the elevator walls, orange hair wild, still wearing his own hoodie even when they had offered him a closet full of clothes.

It smells like home,he thinks, and then laughs to himself because the detergent his mother uses is probably the same the whole country used. He allows himself to think about home,properly,for the first time since he left. About his tiny room, walls covered in volleyball posters and the floor filled with dirty laundry and magazines; so different from the gigantic, clean room he had been given in the train.

He thinks about Natsu, too, for the first time since his mother had clawed her off him as she desperately clung to him during the reaping.Allows himself to finally feel the sadness and longing he had pushed down,maybe because embracing it would mean to accept the reality of his situation.But here,surrounded by the cold unfamiliar elevator walls,he accepts that there was no turning back.Accepts that he won't be going home. Won't be going home to Natsu, and the tiny baby crows on his windowsill. Accepts that he is at a dead end. Unless.

Unless he jumps over it. Jumps high enough.

His gaze shifts to kageyama's reflection, notices how he hasn't changed into new clothes either, and wonders if kageyama had similar reasons, mind drifting back to their fight last night, of who was a better volleyball player and who would win if they stood on opposite sides of the court.

"What are you staring at." Kageyama says, eyes narrowed into slits,regarding him with suspicion.

Hinata shrugs,leaning back against the cold wall as the elevator comes to a halt and the doors slide open. Takeda and Ukai are already out, leading them to their appointed rooms, saying something about resting and strategy meetings.

"Hurry up and get out dumbass." Kageyama says from outside the elevator, glaring daggers at hinata who still hasn't moved.

And hinata finally reaches a conclusion; finally finds a solution. He would have to make it back. He would have to fight his way through this hurdle if he was to hold his sister again, and watch those baby crows fly. If he was to ever be able to relish in the glory and satisfaction of winning against Kageyama and making him eat his stupid,smug words.

"Kageyama." Hinata says,loud and firm,pushing himself off the wall and walking out. "Let's make it back home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank You so much to the person who commented on the last chapter. im new here so i don't exactly have ao3 figured out just yet so idk how to do the mention thingy but. But your support meant a lot and i hope this chapter didn't disappoint you. Thank You so much.
> 
> Anyway, i hope this chapter was good. I'm gonna increase the chapter lengths probably because i wanna finish quickly before i run out of this idea fuel my brain suddenly has.Also,i bet this has shit loads of typos and stuff, but ill be trying to edit them side by side as much as i can.


	3. Don't pick fights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna publish this yesterday, except i got indigestion and was busy puking my guts out the whole day so. A bit late. Anyways, i hope this is good. And not stupid. Publishing stuff is so nerve wracking. Everytime i read the old chapters i feel like they could be so much better if i used my brain more. Anyway, what's done is done (tcon reference). Do leave your reviews, and if you have any questions/confusions about stuff, i would love to answer, if they aren't going to be answered themselves in the upcoming chaps.
> 
> Also,i dont know what to do with chapter titles. So its all probably gonna be random unrelated bullshit, or maybe occasionally a song lyric or something. Because im original like that :p

Sleep doesn't come to him that night either, as he tosses and turns in the bed, just like the previous night in the train. Its strange sleeping in a room this big, a bed large enough to fit at least five people twice hinata's size. The room looks like something straight out of the home decor magazines his mom always had lying around in the house. Its big, sort of pretty and its not home.

He walks out of the room, and makes his way towards the elevator. 

The cold air hits his face as soon as the doors open to the rooftop. His stomach churns as he thinks about how this is the farthest away he has been from the ground. He had never been the one for heights, and had never had the need for air travel. Hinata Shouyou, the boy who had spent most of his life on the ground, almost always being looked down at by his companions because of his short height, was now looking down at a whole city of people from this rooftop.

He glanced at the rails, and wondered how they trusted them enough to let them out here. It would be as easy as breathing to just walk off the edge, leave behind the dark, painful future that awaited them. That would be so easy, he thought, so easy from this place. He could leave without losing his humanity. Without having to kill another person.

He wondered how those crow babies would feel, if they ever left that nest. If they were ever able to jump off the nest, like birds do, before their wings carried them upwards. He wondered if it scared them, jumping off, embracing the prospect that if they didn't fly, they would fall to their death. 

He was like them,he thought,like those helpless flightless crows on the windowsill back home. If he didn't jump, if he didn't fly, he would die. If he didn't try, he would never see Natsu, or his mother. 

He steps towards the railing, reaching out his hands to touch the cold metal, when a sharp voice cuts through his line of thoughts and makes him yelp and step back in shock.

"Force field." 

Hinata turns around to face the figure, sitting beside the door, back leaned against the wall, one leg stretched out while the other drawn up to his chest,supporting his arm.

"What-" Hinata begins.

"There's a forcefield, dumbass." Kageyama says in his standard angry voice. "You wanna get electrocuted, by all means go ahead and touch the rails."

Hinata scowls, and looks back to the rails, eyes squinting. True enough, he sees the familiar faint shimmer in the air, telltale sign of an active force field, surrounding the whole wide rooftop like an invisible blanket. "I knew that." He mutters, embarrassed.

Kageyama snorts, but says nothing.

"I guess they don't trust us all that much huh."He says, mostly to himself.

"Can't blame them." Says Kageyama.

Hinata walks back and sits beside him. "I miss home." He says absently,staring up at the black sky, stars dusted across it, the shimmer of the forcefield looking like glitter.

Kageyama's eyes meet his own, and flicker away, frown deepening in a way hinata thinks only kageyama can be capable of doing. He doesn't say anything, much to hinata's annoyance.

"Lets play a game." Hinata pushes.

"No." Comes kageyama's immediate reply.

"Come on, it's not like you have anything better to do." He says, voice insistent, eyes on kageyama's face, who is pointedly looking ahead at the rails.

"Yes i do." 

"Like what?"

"Like not talking to you." Kageyama says, irritation clear in his voice.

"Jerk." Hinata says, feeling like a small petty child asking his mother for candy. "Lets at least try to get along if we're gonna be a teammates-"

"You think i want to be your teammate?" He says, standing up, dusting his trousers. He looks down at hinata, "If i was given a choice to go in by myself, i would. I dont need you."

Something about the way he says it pisses hinata off. He sounds annoyed, as if hinata was a small child handed to him by force to look over and drag along.

And before he knows it, he's standing up and tackling kageyama to the ground, cursing at him as kageyama yells back, both of them rolling on the cold concrete floor of the rooftop."You bastard-" Hinata is yelling five minutes into their fight, holding the raven haired boy in a headlock. "What did you say-"

"My my." A new voice interrupts. "What do we have here."

Hinata and kageyama yelp in shock, letting go of each other as they both turn to face the new commer. He feels kageyama stiffen suddenly as the new commer smiles at them.

"Already picking fights with your teammates, tobio-chan?" Says the tall guy, smiling sweetly, so different from the harshness of his eyes that he has fixed on kageyama.

Tobio. That's kageyama's name. Hinata tilts his head and looks at the intruder curiously, finding him strangely familiar.

Kageyama gets up, roughly grabbing hinata by his arm,tugging him towards the door. "Let's go back."

"Aww,already?" The guy is saying, stepping towards them. "Will you not keep your senpai company for a while?"

Kageyama's grip on his arm tightens, enough to make hinata wince. That catches kageyama's attention and he lets go immediately. 

Hinata turns to the new guy, "Who are you?" He asks.

The guy looks offended as he gestures to himself with eyebrows raised at hinata. "You don't recognize me?"

Hinata shrugs, eyes flicking towards kageyama, who looks sick. "Not really.Stop bothering kageyama."

The guy gasps dramatically and put his hands on hinata's shoulders,shaking him lightly, "That's mean, chibi-chan. That's not how you should speak to the best setter of your prefecture."

"Best setter of miyagi prefecture...." Hinata mumbles. He looks at the guy again, this time with full attention and recognition flashes through his eyes, "You're Oikawa Tooru."

"Ding ding ding." Oikawa says, grinning. 

"I've watched some of your matches." Hinata says, eye wide with praise. "Your serves are like FWOOSH and then they hit like GWAAH." He says, jumping up and down, and hitting an imaginary volleyball in the air as if demonstrating.

Oikawa's expression is a mixture between delight and confusion as he watches the orange haired bundle of energy chatter excitedly.

"My my,chibi-chan.You sure know how to get your way." He's saying, all proud and boastful. "Maybe i would have tossed to you if i wasn't going to crush you in the arena."

Hinata doesn't notice the change of atmosphere. Kageyama and Oikawa seem to be in some sort of staring competition. And kageyama looks even more shaken up, which Hinata thinks looks pretty stupid on Kageyama.

Hinata looks up at Oikawa, eyes wide and honest."You're the best setter in the prefecture." He finds himself saying. "But i want kageyama to toss to me."

He watches as both the taller men stiffen at his words. Kageyama looks surprised, openly gaping at him, like hinata had just told him he could shit gold. Oikawa, on the other hand, looked positively pissed.

"What did you say, you damn shorty-" Oikawa grits out, gaze hardening.

Hinata knows it's probably not a good idea to piss off other tributes. Not if he doesn't want to be the first target when the games start. But something about how kageyama was acting like a wounded puppy in front of this guy made hinata tick. Plus, this guy really needed to stop commenting on hinata's height. He was being unnecessarily rude.

There was also the fact that he wouldn't allow kageyama to have second thoughts about their victory. They were going to make it back home, just like kageyama had said in the train, and they were gonna compete in the tournament. And then, when hinata had won against him, he would finally hold the right to ask the taller boy to set for him, even if only once.

Kageyama was the only boy from his part of town who was in the Districts official team. Ever since their brief encounter back in middle school where hinata had accidently hit him with a ball while practicing, hinata's eyes would follow kageyama on the court everytime he went to watch a match. There was something entrancing about how he tossed, smooth and precise, as if he had measured all the angles. His tosses were unpredictable, even for hinata, who was pretty confident in his reading ability.

He had never been able to read kageyama's plays.

Kageyama had said he didn't want to be his teammate. And if he looked at it from a broader perspective, even though it was a jerk thing to say, Hinata felt the same. It wasn't anything personal, not even when kageyama had been an asshole to him since forever. It was just the competitive spirit, Hinata thought. To beat kageyama on court was one of hinata's greatest ambitions. He didn't want to be teammates because he had been dreaming of standing on opposite sides of the court.

But all that was a secondary priority. For now at least. Like it or not, they didn't have a choice. Well, not if they wanted to make it alive to the tournament at least. So for now, they would have to improvise. And kageyama would have to suck it up because they were gonna be teammates, and no one was asking for his opinions on the matter.

"Kageyama and I-" He hears himself saying, hand reaching out to grab kageyama's arm and dragging him to stand side by side with him,opposite to oikawa,who is taller than both of them, "-are a team for now. And we will win the games and make it back home before the district tournament." And then he turns his face to the side to grin at kageyama, eyes burning with determination, who has an unreadable expression on his face. " And i'm going to make this guy eat dirt in the court and prove myself worthy of his toss."

{•°•}

"My everything hurts." Hinata says, as they sit in the elevator, panting.

They had finally ended their late night catfight with oikawa. He had grabbed hinata's collar, and hinata had struggled against him, legs thrashing as he was lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing, and then kageyama had butt in, resulting in all three of them somehow getting tangled up on the ground, screaming and pulling each others hair, until a peacekeeper had intervened.

"Don't pick fights with people you can't measure up to, you dumbass." Came kageyama's reply.

"I'm still growing." Hinata replies,scowling. It was getting on his nerves. He hadn't even been here a whole day and already three people were picking at his height. "And i can hold my own against any one. Size doesn't have anything to do with strength."

Kageyama doesn't reply. Not until the elevator doors are sliding open on their floor, and hinata is skipping ahead, ready to hit the sack. Maybe he would ask for a futon or something, he briefly wondered. The bed was too uncomfortable. He was also pretty hungry, by the way his stomach had been growling throughout their elevator ride.

They were standing in front of the doors to their respective room, hinata's hand already on the doorknob, when he hears Kageyama clear his throat.

"I didn't say you lacked strength." Kageyama is saying, looking pained and uncomfortable, like he would rather be eating shit than talking to hinata. "Back then."

"You sort of did."

Kageyama frowns, black eyes meeting hinata's brown ones, "I didn't mean it like that." He says. "Seijoh train their people for the games since elementary."

He knew that. Everyone is the world knew that, Hinata thought, staring at Kageyama dumbly, wondering what that had to do with their conversation.

Seijoh and Shiratorizawa had combat training as a compulsory subject starting from elementary school. Hinata had always shuddered at the thought. Because he couldn't imagine Natsu, an elementary school kid, being made to throw knives at dummies or climb a wall. 

He looked back at kageyama's awaiting gaze and suddébly, as realization hit, it was like someone had doused him in cold water, because he was an honest air-head, and had totally forgotten the fact that Oikawa Tooru, the best setter of their prefecture, was from Seijoh District. The district that held the second position in the game ranking. The second-last district left standing in the arena for the three consecutive years Shiratorizawa had won.

Miyagi prefecture comprised of six districts : Karasuno, Seijoh, Shiratorizawa, Dateko, Johzenji and Niyama.

And out of all six, none of them except seijoh and shiratorizawa, had ever won the games.

Seijoh, unlike karasuno(who just struggled enough to try to survive), and very much like Shiratorizawa, went to the games to win. 

That was the thing. The difference of mindsets. Where Karasuno and the other districts feared the games as some sort of annual horror, Shiratorizawa and Seijoh saw them as an opportunity. And opportunity to move forward, gain a name, a reputation,favours from the outside world.

Where Karasuno and the other districts held funerals and mournings and shrine visits to pray for their dead tributes every year, Seijoh and Shiratorizawa threw feasts to welcome back their tributes. They would have sculptures of the victors in the public squares, and would celebrate them as war heroes. And even if their victors did not return, they were still celebrated; for fighting, for trying. Their pictures were hung in the hall of fame, and they were taught about them in schools.

Where black clouds hung over karasuno and the other districts, where tears became a constant for months and months every year, celebrations and joy and pride dominated seijoh and shiratorizawa.

The games weren't sad or terrifying to them. No. Not even with the all blood and gore. Not even with how they turned ordinary people into murderers on live broadcast, for the whole world to see. Not even when the victors who returned never quite looked the same, not even with all the training. The light in their eyes would always be gone.

Hinata wondered if they were the only ones who understood the true purpose of the game. Entertainment. Opportunity.

Because Karasuno, from his personal experience of 18 years, was never entertained. They didn't place bets or bring popcorn to the public square. People were always bundled around the tributes families during the broadcast, offering them support, consolation, food.

And they were never desperate for the doors of opportunity the games opened either. During the games, the districts received a huge amount of foreign funding; or their share at least. It usually depended on the fanbase of the team. But considering the unique nature of the games that there were only twenty-four teams to be a fan of in the whole wide world, fanbase wasn't much of a problem for anyone. Everyone received quite enough during the games, even if they weren't victors. And while karasuno always utilized its own share for charitable deeds, the money gained through the games was always frowned upon. It was treated as a reminder of the games that had finished, and the games that were going to start again next year. It was a reminder and never a reward.

"I met Oikawa-san back in middle school during the spring tournament." Kageyama says, interrupting his line of realizations. "He's pretty brutal.Even in volleyball."

"Oh? Is kageyama-kun scared?" Hinata jokes.

Kageyama doesn't laugh. "No." He says,turning to face hinata. "I'm just saying he's not an easy to beat opponent and we should be careful around him."

"Considering that we have never held weapons or killed people, i think we'll have to be careful around a great many of people." Hinata says, his tone harsher than he intended. He suddenly felt angry, and tired, and he wanted to slam his head on something. "I don't want to kill anyone. Not even Oikawa."

Kageyama nods slightly, lips pressed in a tight frown. The atmosphere darkens.

They are quiet for a while, standing idly in front of their doors.

"The tiny giant didn't kill anyone." Hinata says suddenly. "Remember? The games from five years ago."

"Tenma Udai." Kageyama says, scowl deepening. "Yeah. Except that didn't end well for him or his teammate did it?"

"But he made it to the third last round." Hinata presses. "Third to seijoh and shiratorizawa. That's the closest to winning karasuno has ever come."

"And the worst way someone from karasuno has ever died." Kageyama hisses. "I don't know about you but i would hate to get eaten alive by fucking fishes."

Hinata flinches. Kageyama, who notices this, much to hinata's annoyance, immediately drops his scowl and actually has the nerve to look guilty. 

"Look Hinata-"

"He would have won." Hinata is saying, his voice shaking. He doesn't quite know what he's feeling. Anger? Sadness? Fear? "He would have won if the gamemakers didn't play dirty."

Tenma Udai was Karasuno's tribute from five years ago. Hinata had been in middle school then. He wasn't allowed to watch the games, because his mother thought he was too young for that kind of gore. He had though. Unintentionally. He had been cycling back home from his friends house when he had seen Tenma Udai and his blonde teammate, Tanaka Saeko, on a telly through the windows of an electronics shop. It was his first time watching a game. 

He didn't sleep much that night. The images he had seen kept flashing through his mind when he closed his eyes. 

But hinata had always been curious. Hinata was intrigued by the contrast Karasuno's team showed compared to the other players. While every other tribute was stabbing each other and smashing heads, Tenma Udai was only ever shown climbing trees and scouting for safe places. His teammate had twisted her ankle after a rough climb over a rocky mountain, and tenma had carried her the whole day as they scouted for safer areas, even though he looked bruised and battered and tired enough to fall himself.

The most violence Tenma had shown was when they had been attacked by a mutt in the middle of the night. They were camping in a cave when Saeko had been dragged out by the mutt, its teeth piercing her leg. Tenma was quick on his feet, and had stabbed a spear into the mutts chest, effectively killing it in one blow. Proving that he wasn't weak himself. Not at all. Karasuno's survival strategy was not brought about because they couldn't fight, it was because they had chosen not to kill on purpose.

"I-I watched that game." Kageyama is saying. "It was my first."

Hinata's eyes widen slightly.

"He was pretty cool."Kageyama continues. "And so was Saeko Tanaka. Their team coordination was excellent. And both of them were good strategists. They were never found by a single player, which was mind blowing considering how much the game makers narrowed the safe areas in each round." He looks at Hinata and swallows. "But-"

"But we aren't them." Hinata completes. Kageyama runs a hand through his hair, and nods slightly.

"Yeah." He says, and then his eyes meet hinatas, and something flashes through them. "I don't want to kill anyone either. And-" His eyes flick away. "I don't want one of us to die for the other. "

Hinata finds himself fighting back a smile, "An hour ago, you didn't want to be my teammate. And now you're considering dying for me?"

"Shut up, dumbass. That's not what i said." Kageyama says, face red, eyes glaring holes through hinata's head. "What i meant to say earlier was that i don't think you lack strength because you're short. I just meant that Oikawa-san is trained in combat and you shouldn't go around pissing him off if you don't want to die before the games even begin."

Hinata laughs, despite himself, "Are you saying you're worried about me, kageyama-kun?"

Kageyama sighs, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets, "Let's go eat, you fucking moron." And then he's walking away from their rooms, towards the kitchen, Hinata trailing after him, laughing.


End file.
